Experimental study by online measurement of the precipitation of nickel hydroxide: Effects of operating conditions

The objective of this work is using the online measurement method to study the process of precipitation of nickel hydroxide in a single-feed semi-batch stirred reactor with an internal diameter ofD = 240mm. The effects of impeller speed, impeller type, impeller diameter and feed location on the mean particle size d43 and particle size distribution （PSD） were investigated, d43 and PSD were measured online using a Malvern Insitec Liquid Pro- cess Sizer every 20 s. It was found that d43 varied between 13 kwh and 26 lain under different operating conditions, and it decreased with increasing impeller diameter. When feeding at the off-bottom distance of D/2 under lower impeller speeds, d43 was significantly smaller than that at D/3. PSDs were slightly influenced by operating conditions.

In situ synthesis of hydrophobic magnesium hydroxide nanoparticles in a novel impinging stream-rotating packed bed reactor

Hydrophobic Mg(OH)_2nanoparticles were successfully synthesized via an in situ surface modification method in a novel impinging stream-rotating packed bed(IS-RPB) reactor using oleic acid(C_(17)H_(33)COOH, OA) as a surface modifier, magnesium chloride hexahydrate in the presence of ethanol as a precursor, and sodium hydroxide as a precipitant. The products were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy(FTIR), Field emission scanning electron microscopy(FESEM), X-ray diffraction(XRD), and thermogravimetry-differential scanning calorimetry(TG-DSC). Compatibility with organic solutions was determined by sedimentation tests. The prepared nanoparticles exhibited regular hexagonal lamella with an average diameter of 30 nm when OA is added to the reaction system; this result indicates that OA regulates the morphology of the Mg(OH)_2nanoparticles.XRD revealed that the high-purity Mg(OH)_2product presents a brucite structure, and the I_(001)/I_(101) of hydrophobic Mg(OH)_2(0.86) was higher than that of the blank Mg(OH)_2(0.63). FTIR analysis showed that OA bonded to the surface of the Mg(OH)_2. Compared with the blank Mg(OH)_2product, the product obtained through the proposed method possesses excellent hydrophobic properties, including a high water contact angle of 101.4° and good compatibility with liquid paraffin. TG-DSC analysis indicated that the total percentage of mass loss of hydrophobic Mg(OH)_2(40.88%) was higher than that of the blank Mg(OH)_2product(33.18%). The in situ surface modification method proposed in this work presents potential use in the large-scale production of Mg(OH)_2nanoparticles.

Recycling of waste carbon residue from spent lithium-ion batteries via constant-pressure acid leaching

Waste carbon residue(WCR)was efficiently detoxicated and regenerated to high-purity graphite(PGC)used in lithium-ion batteries through the constant-pressure acid leaching technique.The leaching conditions were optimized by the combination of orthogonal and single-factor experiments.Results show that PGC with 99.5%purity is regenerated at temperature of 60℃,initial acid concentration of 12%,leaching time of 180 min,and liquid-to-solid ratio of 25:1,satisfying the requirements of commercial graphite.Meanwhile,the sodium hydroxide precipitation process was designed to recover valuable components from leachate efficiently.Ni,Co,Mn,and Al recoveries reach 96.92%,87.5%,97.83%,and 92.17%,respectively,at pH=11.Moreover,the co-product NaF can be recovered with purity over 99%via evaporative crystallization.The loss rate of fluorine is less than 0.5%,thereby eliminating the pollution risk of fluorine to the environment.The proposed process shows considerable environmental and economic benefits.

The effect of the amount of ammonia on the Cu^0/Cu^+ ratio of Cu/SiO_2 catalyst for the hydrogenation of dimethyl oxalate to ethylene glycol

The effect of the amount of precipitant ammonia on the Cu0/Cu＋ratio of Cu/Si O2 prepared by the deposition–precipitation method is investigated. Species at different preparation stages, resulted from the amount of ammonia used, are identified by the XRD and FTIR techniques. Chrysocolla together with either copper nitrate hydroxide or copper hydroxide coexist in the uncalcined catalysts. Upon calcination, the latter two species are converted to Cu O particles while chrysocolla remains. Following reduction, Cu O is transformed to metallic Cu and chrysocolla is converted to Cu2 O. The value of Cu0/Cu＋ratio can be evaluated using the peak areas in their TPR profiles. Hydrogenation of dimethyl oxalate（DMO） to ethylene glycol（EG） shows that the selectivity of EG depends on the Cu0/Cu＋ratio. Catalyst prepared with the addition of ammonia solution at n（NH3）/n（Cu2＋） = 0.9 for precipitation–deposition gains a more suitable Cu0/Cu＋ratio upon reduction and thus has a higher selectivity for EG.